---
description: Learn how seed a Triplit database with the `triplit seed` command.
---

# Seeding a Triplit Database

In this guide, we'll walk through how to use `triplit seed` to seed a database.

## Creating a seed file

First, we'll need to create a seed file. This is a file that contains the data we want to seed the database with. We'll use the `triplit seed` command to this file.

```bash
triplit seed create my-first-seed
```

This will create a file called `my-first-seed.ts` in the `triplit/seeds` directory. It will introspect your [schema](/schemas) defined in `./triplit/schema.ts`. It will use the schema to provide some initial type hinting to help ensure that the data in your seed adheres to the schema.

For example, a schema file might look like this:

```ts filename="./triplit/schema.ts" copy
import { Schema as S } from '@triplit/client';

const schema = S.Collections({
  todos: {
    schema: S.Schema({
      id: S.Id(),
      text: S.String(),
      completed: S.Boolean({ default: false }),
      created_at: S.Date({ default: S.Default.now() }),
    }),
  },
  profiles: {
    schema: S.Schema({
      id: S.Id(),
      name: S.String(),
      created_at: S.Date({ default: S.Default.now() }),
    }),
  },
});
```

And would result in a seed file that looks like this:

```ts filename="triplit/seeds/my-first-seed.ts" copy
import { BulkInsert } from '@triplit/client';
import { schema } from '../schema.js';
export default function seed(): BulkInsert<typeof schema> {
  return {
    todos: [],
    profiles: [],
  };
}
```

## Editing the seed file

Now that we have scaffolded a seed file, we can start adding data to it. Let's add a few todos:

```ts filename="triplit/seeds/my-first-seed.ts" copy
import { BulkInsert } from '@triplit/client';
import { schema } from '../schema.js';
export default function seed(): BulkInsert<typeof schema> {
  return {
    todos: [
      {
        text: 'Buy milk',
      },
      {
        text: 'Buy eggs',
      },
      {
        text: 'Buy bread',
      },
    ],
    profiles: [
      {
        name: 'Cole Cooper',
      },
    ],
  };
}
```

You can add whatever scripts you want to this file, including external libraries, as long as it exports a default function that adheres to the `BulkInsert` type (a record with collection names as keys and arrays of entities as values).

## Using the seed file

Now that we have a seed file, we can use the `triplit seed run` command to seed the database. First, make sure that your environment variables are set up correctly, with `TRIPLIT_DB_URL` pointing to your database (be it a local dev server or a Triplit Cloud instance) and `TRIPLIT_SERVICE_TOKEN` set to a valid service token.

Then, run the `triplit seed create` command with the name of the seed file as an argument:

```bash copy
triplit seed run my-first-seed
```

You should see some output

```bash
> Running seed file: my-first-seed.ts
> Successfully seeded with my-seed.ts
> Inserted 3 document(s) into todos
> Inserted 1 document(s) into users
```

## `triplit seed` variants

### `create`

You can use the `--create` option to create a seed file with some helpful typescript. This will introspect your schema and provide some initial type hinting to help ensure that the data in your seed adheres to the schema.

```bash copy
triplit seed create my-first-seed
```

### `--all`

You can define multiple seed files in the `triplit/seeds` directory. You can run them all at once by using the `--all` option.

```bash copy
triplit seed run --all
```

### `--file`

You can also run a specific seed file, not necessarily located in `triplit/seeds/[seed-file].ts` by using the `--file` option.

```bash copy
triplit seed run path/to/my-seed.ts
```
